Italian All-in-One For Dummies (66 page)
Read Italian All-in-One For Dummies Online
Authors: Consumer Dummies
Dov'è il cinema Trianon?
(doh-
veh
eel
chee
-neh-mah
tree
-ah-nohn?) (
Where is the Trianon cinema?
)
Often saying the name of the movie theater is sufficient, for example,
Dov'è il Trianon?
(doh-
veh
eel
tree
-ah-nohn?) (
Where is the Trianon?
)
Italian movie theaters used to be rather small, showing only one movie at a time. Now virtually all large Italian cities have big
multisala
(moohl-tee-
sah
-lah) (
multiplex
) cinemas, with many screens.
Here are a few other terms to help you navigate the experience of going to and discussing a movie in Italian:
Chi è il regista?
(kee
eh
eel reh-
jees
-tah?) (
Who is the director?
)
Chi sono gli attori?
(kee
soh
-noh lyee aht-
toh
-ree?) (
Who's starring?
)
attore
(aht-
toh
-reh) (
actor
)
attrice
(aht-
tree
-cheh) (
actress
)
regista
(reh-
jees
-tah) (
director
)
trama
(
trah
-mah) (
plot)
scena
(
sheh
-nah) (
scene
)
Going to the theater
The languages of the theater and the cinema are very similar. Of course, when you attend a play, opera, or symphony performance, you have a variety of seats. For example, you can sit in the
platea
(plah-
teh
-ah) (
orchestra
), in the
palchi
(
pahl
-kee) (
box seats
), in the
galleria
(gahl-leh-
ryah
) (
balcony
),
or in the
loggione
(lohj-
joh
-neh) (
gallery
), which used to be called
la piccionaia
(lah peech-choh-
nah
-yah) (Literally:
the pigeon house
) because it's high up.
 Italian films
It's well known that Italy produces a great number of films, and many Italian directors are famous throughout the world, such as Fellini, Rossellini, Bertolucci, De Sica, and Nanni Moretti. Some of their works are considered classics of Italian culture, and I highly recommend them to you. Other contemporary directors to look for include Giuseppe Tornatore, Gabriele Salvatores, Francesca Archibugi, Ferman Ozpetek, Matteo Garrone, and Emanuele Crialese.
La dolce vita
and
La strada
are among Fellini's masterpieces. The dramatic and moving
Roma, città aperta
(
Open City
) is one of Rossellini's most significant movies. To complete the image of the Italian cinema between 1948 and 1957, you need to include De Sica's
Ladri di biciclette
(
The Bicycle Thief
). Bertolucci belongs to a subsequent period and is known for his
Il conformista
(
The Conformist
) whereas Moretti's
Caro diario
(
Dear Diary
) and
La stanza del figlio
(
The Son's Room
) made big contributions to disseminating Italian culture abroad in the 1990s.
Then there's Roberto Benigni, who not only directed one of the most successful films of modern times but also won an Academy Award for acting in
La vita è bella
(
Life Is Beautiful
). Many of the great Italian film directors â among them Gabriele Salvatores, Giuseppe Tornatore, Paolo Sorrentino and Giovanni Veronesi â and beloved actors â Ambra Angiolini, Raoul Bova, Ricky Memphis, Enrico Brignano, Francesco Mandelli, Toni Servillo, Luca Argentero, Carlo Verdone, Elio Germano, Sabrina Ferilli and many others â worked together in films during 2013, making it a memorable year for Italian cinema. The resulting films,
Reality,
La miglior offerta
(
The Best Offer
)
,
Un giorno devi andare
(
There Will Come a Day
), and
La grande bellezza
(
The Great Beauty
), have made audiences laugh, cry and dream â Italian style.
Talkin' the Talk
In the following exchange, Eugenio wants to know whether seats are available for a certain performance of a play he wants to see. He's speaking on the phone with the person at the theater box office.
Ticket
Pronto?
Agent:
prohn
-toh?
Hello?
Eugenio:
Buongiorno. Ã il Teatro Valle?
bwohn-
johr
-noh.
eh
eel teh-
ah
-tro
vahl
-leh?
Good morning. Is this the Valle Theater?
Ticket
Sì. Mi dica.